Silicon in Plants: Molecular and Genetic Approaches Under Abiotic Stresses

Abstract

Sustainable production of agriculture encounters significant challenges due to unpredictable and unfavorable environmental conditions. The incorporation of mineral components has become a fascinating and remarkable phenomenon distinct from the utilization of conventional and applied methods to alleviate abiotic stress condition. Use of silicon (Si) is the second most abundant element in the earth's lithosphere and plays a crucial role in the cellular and developmental processes of plants. Silicon (Si) is linked with improved germination, development, photosynthesis, gas exchange, photosystem efficiency, and yield characteristics in stressed and unstressed plant conditions. The beneficial effects of silicon are more prominent in silicon accumulating plants, particularly when exposed to various abiotic stress conditions. Silicon exhibited ameliorating effects on many abiotic stressors, including salt stress, drought stress, high temperature, and low temperature. Applying Si exogenously induces alterations in morpho-physiological and biochemical traits. Silicon occurrence and source, uptake accumulation and transportation are discussed in this chapter. Furthermore, efforts have been made to investigate the role of silicon-mediated improvements through genetic and molecular approaches including genomics and transcriptomics, proteomics, silicon nanoparticles and genome editing techniques. The objective of this chapter is to investigate the role of silicon in alleviating the adverse effects of abiotic stressors.